“Yuck!” my daughter shrieked, “Daddy, there’s a worm on my plate!”

I have to admit it: I had been pretty proud of myself. The power was out, which is nothing new, and I was in our darkened kitchen laboring to prepare a wholesome breakfast for my family. It’s very hard to find whole grains here in Albania. We have not found brown rice, oats, or whole-wheat flour for sale in our city. We are blessed to have Albanian “parents” who are farmers and gave us some whole-wheat flour from the wheat they grew.

That morning, I’d surprised my family with a special treat—whole-wheat pancakes. Anticipating their happy smiles, my delight was shattered by my daughter’s announcement, which she quickly followed with, “And there are worms in my pancakes!” I brought the flour over to the window for a better look. Sure enough, the flour was infested with larvae of some sort. Brenda, who had already eaten two pancakes, gagged and ran to the bathroom. So much for my attempt to bring a little joy to my family!

Later, Brenda told her friend, a farmer’s wife, about what had happened to our flour. “Didn’t you know you must sift the flour to remove the bugs and worms?” her friend asked.

We have something good and nourishing to share with the Albanian people, but the enemy uses superstitions, lies, fears, suspicions, and many other things in this culture to lay eggs that will hatch and spoil it. At first, Brenda ate the pancakes happily, unaware of what else she was swallowing. We don’t want that to happen to the Albanians. (Brenda may never want to eat pancakes again!) We must be careful to sift the flour by understanding the worldview so we can nourish Albanians with a pure and true picture of the gospel. It would be a tragedy to repulse them with spiritual food contaminated by the enemy, which, after a bite could turn them away forever.

Please pray that we missionaries will receive insight and wisdom to know how to accomplish this critical task.

• Twitter